John Tory and Karen Stintz each registered to run for mayor Monday — he wearing a tie-less white shirt and alone, she with her two young children by her side — about 90 minutes apart yet saying a lot of the same things.

He talked about becoming a leader for “all of the city”; she talked about a campaign to “build and unite” Toronto.

They both played down divisions between urban and suburban neighbourhoods. They both promised to build a downtown relief subway line. Neither explained how they would pay for it; they said details to come.

Their official entries mark the start in earnest of a gruelling eight-month contest to lead Canada’s largest city, and essentially a referendum on the scandal-plagued mayoralty of Rob Ford.

Now that Mr. Tory has stated his intentions, attention will shift to the other x factor: Olivia Chow. Those close to the federal New Democrat say she has not yet given an organizing team in waiting the green light. A decision is expected in March.

Former city councillor and fiscal conservative David Soknacki registered last month, along with Mayor Ford. Voters head to the polls on Oct. 27.

For now, the crowded field of right-of-centre candidates is already fuelling speculation about who may ultimately bow out to avoid splitting the vote.

Ms. Stintz, the former TTC chair and a councillor for Eglinton-Lawrence, said she worried of a “pendulum swing back to an NDP government.” When asked about her longevity in the race, she chose her words carefully, telling reporters she had signed up to be on the ballot “until the end,” and then later telling the Post “I signed up today to be on the ballot.”

The Ford camp reacted in predictable fashion, with Councillor Doug Ford accusing the media of working “to knock Rob off” and lashing out at Mr. Tory, whose resume includes former chief executive for Rogers Media, commissioner of the Canadian Football League, leader of the Progressive Conservative party and radio broadcaster.

“You’re looking right now at the blue bloods, and the establishment and the elites with John Tory, versus the blue-collar, hard- working folks,” said Councillor Ford, the mayor’s campaign manager. He painted Mr. Tory, who has supported “revenue tools” for transit, as a tax-and-spend-happy alternative to his penny-pinching brother.

“How can you call John Tory centre-right when he has the same [George] Smitherman group supporting him?” he asked, comparing Mr. Tory with the former Liberal cabinet minister who lost to Mayor Ford in 2010.

“I have a record and it’s a solid track record, and I’m very proud of it,” said Mayor Ford, who struck a slightly more collegial note. “There is no such thing as right of centre,” he added. “I’m the people’s mayor. I’ll go to anyone’s door, like I was doing this morning. I was out in Scarborough, we were up in North York. We were all over the place. I will take care of anyone, anytime.”

He opposes transit revenue tools, although the Scarborough subway relies on a property tax increase.

Mr. Tory, for his part, promised a “positive campaign” and said he has ideas about making the city more “liveable.”

“I think the people know what they want. They want transit to get built, they want low taxes, especially property taxes, they want jobs and investment and they want a government that works,” said the 59-year-old candidate.

Building a “Yonge Street relief line” — a rebranding of the downtown relief line that is clearly aimed at suburban voters — is his top priority. He will not scrap the Scarborough subway, he said.

Ms. Stintz, 43, said she wants to focus on alleviating congestion, “because congestion is not just about transit.” She believes the city can pay for a downtown relief line “without going to people and asking them to pay more.”

Mr. Soknacki, 59, issued a press release saying that while he is “not a celebrity” he is “the only fiscally responsible candidate who is in this for the people of Toronto.”
“The time for drama is over,” he added.

But Mayor Ford seems to think he can leave the scandals that have dogged him in the past. When asked on Newstalk 1010 if he can promise no more “embarrassing videos” he said: “Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words.”

It’s easy to run for mayor of Toronto. All you need is $200 (a price that has stayed the same since 2006, at least). Canadian citizens aged 18 or older who are residents of Toronto can run. Still, if you live in, say, Burkina Faso, and you own or rent property here (or your spouse does) you can run for mayor. With the bar set so low, it’s perhaps not surprising that 32 candidates have registered to run for mayor: 30 men and two women. Registration for the on Oct. 27 vote is at the Toronto Elections counter, on the back of the ground floor at city hall, or at the elections warehouse, which is at 89 Northline Road in East York. The National Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer offers a brief reminder of the main contenders, in the order in which they registered:

Mayor Rob Ford
The incumbent was the first in, registering on Jan. 2 at 8:31 a.m. A son of Etobicoke, Mr. Ford, 44, listed Deco Labels & Tags, the family business, as the mailing address in his nomination papers, and his email address at Deco. The mayor, a married father of two, appointed two people as his agents: David Garland and his big brother, Councillor Doug Ford. The mayor, a city councillor since 2000, won in 2010 with the slogan “Respect for Taxpayers.” This year his slogan is “Ford More Years.”

David Soknacki
He registered on Jan. 6 at 10:17 a.m. Mr. Soknacki, born, raised and living in Scarborough, served as a councillor in 1994-97 and 1999-2006. He also served five years as chair of the Board of Downsview Park, until the government of Canada dissolved the board. Since leaving politics, Mr. Soknacki, a married father of one, has concentrated on running his flavour extraction business, Ecom Food Industries of Markham. Among his slogans so far: “David vs Gridlock” and “David vs Bad Math.”

John H. Tory
The now former Newstalk 1010 radio host registered on Monday at 8:36 a.m., listing Michael Wilson, the former federal finance minister, as his agent. A true blueblood and a lawyer, Mr. Tory, a father of four, named his son John Tory; his grandson, also John Tory, is the sixth John Tory in the Toronto line. The candidate gave as his mailing address the condo he shares with his wife on Bloor Street. Mr. Tory has led the Progressive Conservative party of Ontario and headed CivicAction, the Toronto-boosting organization. This will be his second bid for the mayoralty, having lost to David Miller in 2003.

Karen Stintz
The three-time city councillor registered on Monday at 10:05 a.m. Born in Toronto, she spent her first three years in the United States before moving to Toronto, where she grew up since. On top of her undergraduate work, she holds a journalism degree from Boston University and a master’s in public policy from Queen’s University. A cyclist with a winning smile, she lives in her north Toronto ward with her husband, two children and two dogs. First elected in 2003, Ms. Stintz became chair of the TTC after winning a third term in 2010. She has resigned as TTC chair to run for mayor.

The others
Among the 28 other candidates for mayor — ranging from Said Aly to Troy Young — is Norm Gardner, of Willowdale. Mr. Gardner served from 1976 through 2000 as a North York councillor, Metro councillor and Toronto councilllor. He has come out of retirement to run for mayor, registering on Jan. 30 at 2:16 p.m. “Spend it wisely,” seems to be his campaign slogan. Rounding out the list are a man whose real name is Al Gore, and Richard Underhill, the Juno-Award winning saxophone player whose band, The Shuffle Demons, had a hit with their ode to a transit service that has been replaced by a streetcar: “Spadina Bus.”